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Parking chief: ‘No more leaping out of bushes when your meter expires’

New West Palm Beach parking chief seeks balance between helpfulness and enforcement

WEST PALM BEACH

Nobody loves a meter maid or meter man.

But the city’s new meter man-in-chief, Parking System Administrator Ed Davis, says he hopes West Palm Beach parking space enforcers and parkers can come to a meeting of the minds.

Davis, who came to West Palm via Houston in March, acknowledged the town-frown strains here and the frustrations, particularly as a building boom knocks out whole blocks of on-street parking at a time. He said he’s looking for ways to balance the needs of merchants, residents and visitors.

In coming months, expect to see his division get a face-lift, he said. “We’re going to put our people out there so they look official, are more approachable and more helpful, as opposed to someone who hides in the bushes and waits for your meter to expire. That’s not what we do.”

That doesn’t mean to expect concessions from Rita Meter Maid.

“It’s just a matter of everybody coming to terms with understanding these are the stipulations with which you come downtown to utilize parking,” he said.

“We want to be more of a partner with all merchants and public, to work hand-in-hand to make sure parking is available out there,” he said. “What we do is try to make life a little bit simpler for people who park down here. Parking always is perceived as a not-too-nice entity, not just in West Palm Beach.”

No specifics yet but the city is considering ways to make more parking spaces available, he said. One idea is to work out deals for opening spaces in private buildings’ garages to public parking in off hours, he said. Meanwhile, in the five city garages — Banyan, City Hall, Evernia, Police HQ and Clematis — West Palm Beach is swapping out its parking chip reader technology and going back to paper stubs, making all garages consistent.

In any event, meter men will remain on the prowl. “To make parking spaces available to those visiting the downtown area, we have to make sure we have adequate enforcement,” Davis said.

“Will we ever get to the point where everybody’s happy? We never will.”